THE  RACE  FOR  AFRICA. 


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HAMPTON,  VA.: 

Nonna l School  Steam  Press. 
1883. 


THE  RACE  FOR  AFRICA. 


There  has  never  been  a more  intense  and  concentrated  effort  to 
open  a continent  than  is  now  directed  towards  Africa.  From  Algeria, 
from  Egypt,  from  Zanzibar,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Zambesi,  from  Na- 
tal, from  Cape  Colony,  from  Benguela  via  Bihe,  from  the  Congo  and 
the  Ogowe,  the  Niger,  the  St.  Paul’s,  the  Gambia  and  the  Senegal, 
the  influences  of  exploration,  commerce,  missionary  and  colonization 
endeavor  are  penetrating  the  vast  interior  with  so  much  energy  and 
success  that,  with  whatever  difficulties  and  obstacles,  the  result  can- 
not be  doubtful.  A few  years  will  give  access  to  the  immense  and 
varied  treasures  of  a magnificent  quarter  of  the  globe,  and  bring  its 
mighty  domain  under  the  sway  of  Christian  civilization. 

Governmental.  At  no  time  in  the  last  century  has  every  part 
of  the  Mediterranean  been  so  involved  in  European  diplomacy  as  at 
the  present  day.  An  uprising  in  Egypt  summons  the  might  of  Eng- 
land to  cease  only  when  the  horrible  slave  trade,  which  continues  to 
devastate  the  upper  Nile  countries,  shall  be  suppressed,  and  order,  an 
upright  administration  of  laws,  and  a free  channel  for  the  world’s  com- 
merce shall  be  secured.  France  has  assumed  supreme  control  of 
Tunis  at  a great  cost  of  blood  and  treasure.  Leading  governments 
have  taken  steps  for  securing  more  adequate  protection  for  foreigners 
in  Morocco. 

The  progress  of  French  dominion  in  Central  Africa  is  noted  by 
the  return  of  the  national  expedition  under  Capt.  Gallieni.  This  ex- 
ploration had  for  its  main  object  the  location  of  the  proposed  govern- 
ment branch  line  of  the  Sahara  railway  from  the  headwaters  of  the 
Niger  to  the  French  military  colony  on  the  Senegal,  thence  to  con- 
nect by  steamer  with  France,  and  to  treat  with  the  natives.  In  all 
respects  the  mission  seems  to  have  been  successful.  At  the  same  time, 
France  has  not  abandoned  the  scheme  of  building  a railroad  from 
Algeria  to  Timbuctoo  ; and  the  project  of  flooding  portions  of  the 
Great  Desert  is  again  discussed  with  new  vigor.  The  bill  introduced 
in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  by  the  Minister  of  War  for  the  creation  of 
an  African  army,  provides  that  this  effective  force  shall  consist  of  fifty- 
eight  battalions,  three  hundred  and  one  companies  of  infantry,  seventy- 
five  squadrons  of  cavalry,  and  thirteen  batteries  of  artillery  with  nine- 
ty guns,  in  addition  to  the  engineer  and  transport  services. 


2 


Explorations. 


The  Portuguese  government  has  decided  to  establish  stations  in 
its  extensive  African  possessions  for  the  assistance  of  explorers  and 
commercial  caravans,  by  giving  such  information  and  help  as  may  be 
needed.  Each  station  will  be  in  the  midst  of  an  inclosure  sufficiently 
large  to  admit  of  the  necessary  buildings,  and  enough  productive  land 
to  afford  self-support  by  cultivation.  It  will  have  at  its  head  a mili- 
tary officer,  whose  staff  is  to  be  composed  of  a surgeon,  chaplain,  and 
a dozen  master-workmen,  such  as  carpenters,  masons  and  farmers. 
Trading  houses  will  have  agents  at  the  stations  for  traffic  with  the 
natives.  Capt.  Capello  is  to  have  charge  of  the  first  station,  which 
is  to  be  located  at  Bihe.  The  same  government  has  signed  a con- 
tract with  the  National  Steam  Navigation  Company  for  a packet  ser- 
vice between  Lisbon  and  Portuguese  ports  on  the  West  Coast  of  Af- 
rica. The  extreme  points  of  the  new  line  will  be  Lisbon  and  Mossa- 
medes,  the  intermediate  ports  at  which  tne  vessels  will  call  being 
Funchal,  (Madeira,)  St.  Vincent,  and  Santiago,  (Cape  Verde  Islands,) 
Prince’s  Island,  San  Thome,  Rio  Zaira,  (Congo,)  Ambris,  Loando, 
and  Benguela,  The  new  steamers  must  not  be  over  4,000  or  under 
1,800  tons  burthen,  with  minimum  speed  of  ten  and  a half  miles  an 
hour,  and  accommodations  for  60  first  and  second  and  126  third- 
class  passengers.  The  Portuguese  government  will  grant  an  annual 
subsidy  of  £ 6,600 , or  $33,000. 

The  Italian  government  is  preparing  to  dispatch  a special  messen- 
ger to  King  John  of  Abyssinia,  with  the  draft  of  an  amicable  treaty  and 
gifts  of  natural  and  artificial  stones,  guns  for  hunting  elephants,  bar- 
rel organs,  and  various  nick-nacks. 

So  large  has  become  the  number  of  vessels  and  men  engaged,  and 
so  important  the  interests  to  be  guarded,  that  the  Admiralty  will  here- 
after appoint  an  admiral  instead  of  a commodore  to  the  command 
of  the  British  squadron  on  the  West  Coast  of  Africa. 

Explorations.  Among  the  papers  of  the  late  Capt.  Wybrants, 
is  a minute  statement  concerning  the  Sabia,  which  flows  into  the  Mo- 
zambique. Dr.  Flegel  has  penetrated  the  Sahara  region.  The  ex- 
pedition of  the  Geographical  Society  of  Rome,  in  charge  of  Signors 
Matteucci  and  Massari,  has  crossed  the  continent  from  Egypt  to  the 
Gulf  of  Guinea.  M.  Sueci,  of  the  Italian  Society  of  Commerce,  has 
returned  from  Madagascar  and  the  Commores,  bearing  an  advanta- 
geous concession.  Major  Mechow  has  arrived  at  Milan  from  research- 
es in  Loando.  Enin  Bey  asserts  that  Beatrice  gulf,  supposed  to  be  a 
bay  of  the  Albert  Nyanza,  is  a separate  body  of  water,  Three  cas- 
cades have  been  discovered  on  the  Quango. 

Dr.  Stecker,  of  the  German  African  Society,  is  making  encouraging 


Explorations. 


3 


progress  from  Abyssinia  to  the  Central  lakes,  after  an  examination 
of  lake  Tzana  and  its  vicinity.  This  lake  is  one  of  the  many  formed 
by  the  rivers  which  come  foaming  down  from  the  Abyssinian  mount- 
ains, rushing  over  the  rocks  in  such  magnificent  cascades  as  to  earn 
for  this  region  the  title  of  the  Switzerland  of  Africa.  Several  rivers 
of  considerable  size  flow  into  it,  the  principal  one,  the  Blue  Nile,  en- 
tering at  the  south-west,  near  which  juts  out  the  peninsula  of  Zegni, 
its  whole  mountainous  surface  forming  one  immense  coffee  planta- 
tion. The  dwellings  are  of  stone,  and  like  the  majority  of  those  of 
the  other  villages  of  the  lake,  are  distinguished  from  those  of  the 
interior  by  a remarkable  degree  of  neatness,  as  well  as  for  the  hos- 
pitality of  their  inmates.  Dr.  Stecker  estimates  the  area  of  lake 
Tzana  as  five  times  that  of  the  lake  of  Geneva. 

The  Royal  Geographical  Society  of  England  has  decided  on 
equipping  a party  for  the  exploration  of  the  equatorial  yet  snow-cap- 
ped mountains  Kenia  and  Killimanjaro,  and  the  country  thence  to  tne 
eastern  shores  of  the  Victoria  Nyanza  ; Mr.  Joseph  Thomson  is  to 
be  the  commander.  Four  exploring  expeditions  are  preparing  by  the 
International  African  Association,  of  which  the  King  of  Belgium  is  the 
zealous  president.  The  first,  under  Col.  YVouvermanns,  will  go  from 
Daves-Salaam,  south  of  Zanzibar,  to  Urango,  south  of  the  Tanganyika, 
whose  southern  shore  they  will  explore  as  far  as  Karama,  They  will 
then  journey  to  ascertain  where  the  Lualaba  flows  into  the  lake  c< 
Moero-Okata.  To  reach  Nyangue,  they  will  go  to  meet  the  second 
expedition,  led  by  Prof.  Dusief,  which  starts  from  Capstadt  and  fol- 
lows Livingstones' route  up  the  valley  of  the  Zambesi  to  Lathosi.  They 
will  penetrate  the  Londo  to  ascertain  the  exact  source  of  Lake  Bang- 
weola,  and  passing  through  Benba,  will  join  Col.  Wouvermann’s  par- 
ty in  Casembe,  so  that  they  may  make  the  difficult  journey  to  Nyan- 
gue together.  The  third,  commanded  by  Col.  Strauch,  will  explore 
the  Congo.  A number  of  small  steamers  that  can  be  taken  to 
pieces  will  be  transported  from  the  lower  to  the  higher  portion  of 
that  famous  river  by  one  thousand  natives,  whom  Stanley  has  collect- 
ed at  Vivi.  The  fourth  expedition,  under  Mr.  Emil  Banning  and 
Capt.  Theis,  will  start  from  Khartoum  for  Gondokoro,  by  Uragga, 
along  the  western  shore  of  the  Albert  Nyanza. 

A Spanish  party  is  to  survey  the  district  between  the  bay  of  Cor- 
isco  and  the  Albert  Nyanza.  The  country  of  the  Gallas  is  to  be  exam- 
ined by  Baron  Muller,  and  also  by  Count  Pennazzi,  the  latter  then 
proceeding  to  the  Central  lakes.  The  Italian  travelers,  Bianchi  and 
Sicata,  are  preparing  at  Naples,' at  the  expense  of  Signor  Rocco,  to 
proceed  to  Abyssinia  and  thence  into  the  interior,  in  the  interest  of 
trade  for  the  Italian  station  at  Assab.  The  Geographical  Society  of 


4 


The  Congo. 


Milan  has  resolved  to  support  Signor  Benzi  in  an  effort  to  cross  Af- 
rica through  the  country  of  the  Gallas,  from  east  to  west.  A Russian 
expedition  is  to  explore  the  region  between  Mount  Cameroon,  the 
Adamon  and  the  Congo. 

The  Congo.  Stanley  is  reported  to  have  completed  stations  at 
Vivi,  Isangila,  Manyenga and  Stanley  Pool,  the  latter  situated  just 
above  the  rapids,  whence  flows  fifteen  hundred  miles  of  navigable  wa- 
ters through  a rich  and  populous  country.  The  projected  road,  one 
hundred  and  ninety  miles  in  length,  to  avoid  the  cataracts  below,  is 
in  course  of  construction.  The  expenses  have  been  heavy,  and 
not  hitherto  covered  by  the  profits  of  commercial  operations,  as  had 
been  at  one  time  hoped.  These  four  stations  promise  to  become 
extensive  trading  towns.  Each  one  is  in  care  of  an  European  with  two 
white  assistants. 

Count  Savorgnan  de  Brazza  is  represented  to  have  been  in  active 
negotiation  with  the  tribes  along  his  newly-discovered  route  connect- 
ing the  head-waters  of  the  Ogowe  with  those  of  the  Alima,  which 
empties  into  the  upper  Congo.  He  is  stated  to  have  taken  possession 
of  the  countries  through  which  he  passed  in  the  name  of  France  and 
to  have  entered  into  treaty  relations  with  chiefs  at  and  near  Stan- 
ley Pool,  in  which  they  acknowledge  the  suzerainty  of  the  French  re- 
public. He  has  also  founded  the  station  of  Brazzaville,  on  the  Congo, 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  Stanley  Pool.  These  proceedings 
and  the  possibility  of  international  difficulty  growing  out  of  them,  has 
caused  the  unexpected  return  of  Stanley  and  de  Brazza  to  Europe. 

Commercial.  The  River  Gambia  Trading  Company  has  been 
incorporated  in  London  with  a capital  of  ^'150,000,  ($750,000,)  in  150, 
000  shares  of  £ 1 ($5)  each,  to  operate  on  the  Gambia;  the  directors 
declaring  their  intention  to  trade  direct  with  the  United  States  and 
West  Indies  for  the  purpose  of  importing  tobacco,  flour  &c.  A pros- 
pectus has  appeared  in  the  same  city,  of  the  Congo  and  Central  Af- 
rican Company,  capital  ,£250,000  ($1,250,000,)  in  50,000  sharesof  ,£5 
($25)  each,  to  trade  along  the  southwest  African  coast,  and  especially 
on  the  Congo,  using  the  road  which  Stanley  is  building.  The 
Niger  Company  is  seeking  in  England  to  increase  its  capital  stock. 
The  field  of  operation  is  large,  and  to  work  it  effectively,  more  steam- 
ers and  stations  are  necessary.  For  the  fostering  and  development 
of  the  new  settlements  in  Liberia,  which  are  gradually  advancing  to 
the  interior,  and  to  facilitate  traffic,  it  is  proposed  to  put  on  the  St. 
Paul’s  a steamboat  of  moderate  size  for  the  accommodation  of  passen- 
gers and  the  conveyance  of  freight  to  and  from  the  seaboard  to  various 
points  on  the  river  as  far  as  the  head  of  navigation,  To  carry  out  this 


Gold  M lues. 


5 


object,  a company  of  Liberian  citizens  at  Monrovia  has  been  organized 
and  $2,500  subscribed.  It  is  intended  to  obtain  a suitable  boat  in  the 
United  States.  The  Liberia  Interior  Association  is  another  recent 
organization  at  Monrovia,  whose  aim  is  “to’carry  on  and  , foster  trade 
with  the  interior  of  Africa,  to  suggest  and  provide  methods  of  carriage 
and  transportation,  and  to  promote  agricultural  and  commercial  inter- 
ests in  that  direction.”  The  African  Lakes  Junction  Company  has 
commenced  the  construction  of  a carriage  road  between  lakes 
Nyassa  and  Tanganyika,  on  the  completion  of  which  there  will  be  a 
line  of  route,  rivers,  lakes  and  road,  extending  about  two 
thousand  miles,  from  Ouilimane,  by  the  Kawaka,  Zambesi,  Shire 
and  Lake  Nyassa.  to  the  northern  end  of  the  Tanganyika.  The 
Livingstone  Central  African  Company  has  opened  a trading 
factory  at  Inhamissengo,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Zambesi. 
It  found  there  two  other  companies  for  trade,  one  French  and  the 
other  Portuguese.  A company  has  been  formed  in  the  Transvaal,  with 
considerable  capital,  to  open  the  silver  mines  of  Tati.  Port  Eliza- 
beth is  the  principal  sea-port  on  the  east  coast  of  the  colony  of  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  the  report  of  its  Chamber  of  Commerce 
gives  the  value  of  articles  of  merchandise  imported  during  the  year 
1881  as  ,£4,001,668,  ($20,008,340.)  and  the  value  of  colonial  produce 
exported  during  the  same  period  as  £^2,583,727  ,($12,918,685.)  The 
customs  returns  for  the  port  of  Algoa  Bay  during  the  year  1881, 
were  ,£879,947.  ($4-399.735.) 

Railroads.  Materials  for  the  construction  of  a railroad  by  the 
French  government  from  the  mouth  of  the  Senegal  to  Medina  have 
been  transported  inland,  and  a corps  of  Chinese  workmen  sent  to 
build  it,  the  King  of  Foutah  guaranteeing  their  security  in  passage. 
This  door  of  entrance  into  western  Soudan  seems  much  more  prac- 
ticable than  the  Trans-Saharian  route  from  Tripoli  to  Timbuctoo. 
The  railway  in  Algeria  has  been  extended  from  Saida  to  Kreider. 
The  Wassaw  Light  Railway  Company,  formed  in  London  in  the  in- 
terest of  West  African  gold  mining  companies,  has  dispatched  an 
engineer  to  Dix  Cove  to  make  surveys  and  to  prepare  plans.  Rail- 
roads are  building  from  Natal  toward  the  interior.  The  Orange  Free 
State  has  offered  to  make  a road  to  the  northern  border  of  the  Natal 
colony  to  meet  one  from  its  sea-port  town.  A contract  has  been  sign- 
ed for  the  construction  of  a railway  from  Delagoa  Bay  to  Pretoria, 

Gold  Mines.  The  area  of  gold  mining  on  the  Gold  Coast  of 
West  Africa  by  European  enterprise  is  extending,  and  the  conviction 
is  strengthening  that  those  territories  will  ere  long  rank  among  the 
richest  known.  The  work  of  extraction,  reduction  and  stamping  is 


6 


Diamonds. 


going  on  actively  in  the  mines  of  the  West  African,  the  Gold  Coast,, 
the  Effuenta,  the  Akankoo,  the  Wassaw,  the  Core  d’  Or  d’  Afrique, 
the  Aboso  and  other  companies.  Four  companies  for  operating  in 
the  same  district  have  lately  been  incorporated  in  London:  the  South 
Gold  Coast,  the  Tacquah,  the  Guinea  Coast  and  the  Matasong, 
the  shares  of  which  were  quickly  taken.  The  Core  d’  Or 
d’  Afrique  and  Aboso  companies  publish  every  two  weeks  in  Paris  a 
“Bulletin  des  Mines.”  The  text  is  in  French,  and  it  gives  reports- 
by  mining  engineers  on  the  Gold  Coast  gold  mines. 

Capt.  Burton  and  Commander  Cameron,  the  distinguished  Afri- 
can travelers,  have  returned  from  an  examination  of  the  West  African 
gold  fields,  and  in  papers  read  by  them  before  the  Society  of  Arts, 
London,  the  former  ‘ recapitulated”  as  follows:  “The  good  news  we 
bring  home  is  the  prodigious  wealth  of  the  land.  I know  nothing  to 
equal  it  in  California  or  in  the  Brazils.  Gold  dust  is  panned  by  native 
women  from  the  sands  by  the  seashore.  Gold  spangles  glitter  after 
showers  in  the  streets  of  Axitn.  Gold  is  yielded  by  the  lumps  of 
yellow  swish  that  rivet  the  wattle  walls  of  hut  and  hovel.  Our  wash- 
ings range  from  half  an  ounce  to  four  ounces  per  ton.  There,  then, 
is  the  gold,  and  it  will  be  our  fault  only  if  it  remains  there.  I know 
no  land  better  able  to  supply  the  measure  required  in  England  to 
preserve  the  balance  of  the  precious  metals  than  this  old  New  Cali- 
fornia, our  neglected  El  Dorado,  the  Gold  Coast.”  Commander 
Cameron  stated  that  he  and  his  companion  were  of  the  same  opinion 
as  to  the  abundance  of  gold,  but  it  was  his  individual  judgment  “that 
immigration  of  labor  was  necessary  for  the  whole  West  Coast, 
which  would  be  provided  best  from  China." 

Diamonds. — The  gross  weight  of  diamonds  which  passed  through 
the  Kimberly  (South  Africa)  post  office  in  1880  was  1,440  pounds,  12 
ounces  avoirdupois,  the  estimated  value  being  ,£3,367,897.  These  fig- 
ures compare  with  1,174  pounds  and  £2,846,631  in  1879:  1,150  pounds 
and  £2,672,744  in  1878;  903  pounds  and  £1 12,427  in  1877:  and  773  pounds 
and  $1,807,532  in  1876.  The  annual  value  of  the  mines  in  the  Kimber- 
ly division,  owned  at  the  end  of  1880  by  the  government  and  the  Lon- 
don and  South  African  Exploration  Company  is  estimated  as  follows; 
Kimberly,  £4,000.000:  Old  de  Beer’s,  £2,000,000;  Du  Joits  Pan,  £1,000,- 
000  and  Bultfontein,  £1,500,000.  At  the  end  of  last  year  22,000  black 
and  1, 700  white  men  were  employed  at  these  mines.  From  the  Kimberly 
and  Old  de  Beer’s  mines  alone,  diamonds  to  the  extent  of  3,200,000 
carats  are  annually  mined,  while  the  other  mines  above  named  yielded 
300,000  carats  last  year. 

Native  Iron. — Algeria  contains  rich  deposits  of  iron  ore.  At  Dje- 


( oal. 


bel  and  Sjer,  specular  iron  ore  is  wrought,  while  at  Mockta-el  Hadid 
magnetic  Iron  ore  is  worked.  At  Melik,  pig  iron  is  made  from  the 
spathose  ores  of  the  district,  native  coal  previously  coked,  being  em- 
ployed in  their  reduction,  The  quantity  and  value  of  the  iron  ores 
imported  from  Algeria  into  Great  Britain  rose  from  the  year  1863,  263 
tons,  value  ^201  ($1,005,)  to  the  year  1880,  82,248  tons,  value  ^86,884, 
($434,420.)  The  Mockta-el  Hadid  Company  in  its  annual  report  for 
1879,  states  that  at  Bona  310,674  tons  of  iron  ore  were  mined  in  that 
year,  25,000  tons  more  than  in  1878.  It  is  well  known  that  the  natives  im- 
mediately in  the  vicinity  of  Liberia  manufacture  rude  agricultural  and 
other  implements  out  of  iron  ore  so  pure  that  when  heated  it  becomes 
sufficiently  malleable  to  admit  of  being  wrought  into  any  shape  or  form 
without  the  process  of  smelting.  A specimen  piece  of  this  ore.  sent 
to  the  writer  by  an  emigrant  blacksmith  from  Virginia,  has  been  an- 
alyzed by  Dr.  A.  A.  Hayes,  State  Geologist  of  Massachusetts,  with  the 
following  certified  result:  “ Its  chemical  composition  is  98.40  per  cent, 
pure  iron:  and  quartz  grains,  magnetic  oxide,  iron  crystals  and  zeolite 
1.60  per  cent:  total  100  parts.”  This  discovery  is  interesting  to  science 
and  art.  Native  iron  in  large  deposits  is  as  probable  as  was  that  of  native 
copper  before  the  opening  of  the  mines  on  lake  Superior.  Native  cop- 
per had  been  known  for  ages  to  exist,  but  till  the  opening  of  those  mines 
it  had  never  been  found  in  quantities  to  be  of  much  commercial  im- 
portance. Now  it  is  found  in  great  abundance,  and  some  of  it  in  masses 
•o  immense  that  the  miners  are  troubled  with  their  vastness.  Whether 
the  native  iron  of  Liberia  exists  in  similar  abundance  can  be  deter- 
mined only  by  actual  examination  of  the  country.  Should  large  quan- 
tities exist  near  gome  navigable  stream  or  port,  its  commercial  value 
roust  be  incalculable. 

Coal. — Africa  is  an  immense  virgin  market  for  the  productions 
and  industries  of  Europe  and  America.  In  the  year  1880  Great 
Britain  shipped  1,001,280  tons  of  c©al.  778  tons  of  cinders,  and  45,666 
tons  of  patent  fuel,  the  latter  mostly  made  of  coal,  total  value  ^5 1 3.- 
988,  ($2,569,940),  to  the  following  named  points;* 

Place. 

T ripoli  and  Tunis ...... . 

Algeria 

Morocco 

West  Coast  of  Africa 

British  poss’ns  in  S.  Africa 
East  Coast  of  Africa 


Egypt ... 

Totals 

* Acknowledgment  is  gratefully  made  to  Peter  W.  Sheafer  Esq.,  for  these  statistics  of 
coal,  and  those  just  given  touching  iron  in  Algeria  ; and  to  the  Western  Christian  Advo- 
cate of  Cincinnati ; Missionary  Herald  of  Boston,  Foreign  Missionary  of  New  York,  African 
Times  of  London,  and  L’Afrique  of  Geneva,  for  valuable  information  freely  incorporated 
in  this  article. 


Tons  of  Coal. 


...3,308 
. .46,182 

S' 

.124,474 
. 168,289 
. . 9,649 


■••351,953 

...649,327 

. I,00I,280 


Cinders. 


.482 

.296 

. 778 


Patent  Fuel. 


• 39,2x3 
. . . . 230 
. .2,386 

26 

••1,565 


•43,420 

. . 2,240 
45,660 


Value. 


Missions. 


S 


The  Slave  Trade. — The  cause  of  human  liberty  has  been  advanced 
by  the  overthrow  of  the  Mohammedan  slave  trade  in  Zanzibar  and  par- 
tially in  Egypt,  and  the  property  in  slaves  is  being  abolished  in  the  Por- 
tuguese possessions  in  southeast  Africa,  and  in  the  neighboring  island 
of  Madagascar.  Sir  John  Kirk,  the  British  consul-general  at  Zanzibar, 
who  earned  his  knighthood  by  his  services  in  connection  with  the 
abolition  of  the  slave  traffic  and  the  advance  of  civilization  in 
East  Africa,  has  resigned  and  returned  to  England.  Col.  Mills,  the 
British  political  agent  at  Mascate.  has  been  appointed  to  succeed  Dr. 
Kirk  at  Zanzibar. 

Missions.  The  courage  and  faith  of  the  English  missionary 
societies  in  the  prosecution  of.their  work  in  the  lake  portions  of  Cen- 
tral Africa  is  worthy  of  all  commendation.  The  great  distance  from 
the  base  of  supplies,  making  necessary  a long  and  trying  land  jour- 
ney, and  the  unhealthiness  of  the  country  are  serious  obstacles,  yet  they 
have  enlarged  their  operations  and  increased  the  rr.  issionarv  bands.  The 
Baptist  and  the  Livingstone  Inland  Mission  have  advanced  on  the  Con- 
go to  Stanley  Pool.  Nine  laborers  were  added  to  the  staff  of  the  latter 
during  the  past  year,  leaving  the  number  just  what  it  was  at  the  begin- 
ning, nine  having  been  removed  by  death  or  other  causes  from  the  field. 
Some  of  the  new  members  took  with  them  an  iron  house  for  Banana, 
and  the  steam-launch  Livingstone. 

Cardinal  Lavigerie  states  in  the  Missions  Catholiques  that  there 
will  be  four  departments  (provicaiato)  in  the  mission  of  Rome  to  Cen- 
tral Africa — i,  Nyanza  ; 2,  Tanganyika;  3,  Northern  LTpper  Congo;  4, 
Southern  Upper  Congo.  The  last  two  sections  have  not  been  enter- 
ed. In  the  first  two  districts  twenty-six  missionaries,  lay  and  clerical, 
are  reported.  The  Algiers  Mission  of  the  same  church  has  transfer- 
red its  medical  college  from  St.  Louis,  in  Algeria,  to  Malta,  where  it 
will  continue  to  prepare  natives  of  Africa  for  medical  missions  among 
their  tribes. 

The  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions, in  ad- 
dition to  its  work  among  the  Zulus,  has  planted  its  standard  at  Bihe, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  back  from  Benguela,  and  in  Umzilla’s 
Land,  near  the  east  coast  of  Mozambique.  In  each  case  a manly  and 
vigorous  population  has  been  found  under  the  government  of  chiefs 
of  rare  natural  ability  and  of  impulses  favorable  to  mission  efforts- 
In  both,  pioneers  have  fallen  on  the  threshold  of  their  career. 

Doctors  Ladd  ind  Snow,  of  the  American  Missionary  Association, 
have  returned  from  a tour  of  some  twenty-five  hundred  miles  up  the 
Nile,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Sobat.  They  report  the  Negro-Arab  leader, 
Mohammed  Achmet,  dominating  the  region  in  which  the  Arthirg- 


Colonization. 


9 


ton  mission  is  proposed  to  be  located,  while  the  condition  of  Egypt 
gives  little  promise  that  its  authority  can  be  speedily  re-established 
in  her  remote  provinces  in  Soudan.  A delay,  therefore,  is  inevitable 
in  the  labors  of  the  Association  in  this  direction. 

The  Baptist  Missionary  Union  has  felt  obliged  to  decline  the 
offer  of  Robert  Arthington,  Esq.,  to  give  £ 7,000  to  establish  a mis- 
sion in  the  Soudan  country.  It  proposes  to  resume  vigorous  opera- 
tions in  Liberia,  and  to  awaken  an  interest  in  this  undertaking  among 
the  colored  churches  of  the  United  States.  Through  the  munificence 
of  Mr.  Arthington,  many  a missionary  enterprise  has  been  begun  in 
Africa,  which  might  have  been  delayed  for  years. 

The  Gaboon  and  Corisco  Mission  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  been  reinforced,  in  view  particularly 
of  its  new  departure  inland. 

The  missionary  bishop  of  Cape  Palmas  writes  “that  four  out  of 
seven  of  the  white  missionaries  in  this  jurisdiction  will  return  to 
America  for  their  health  this  year.  White  men  must  grow  fewer  and 
fewer  in  proportion  to  the  workers  from  among  the  Negro  brethren, 
until  the  whole  shall  be  turned  over  to  the  people  whose  home  is 
here.”  * * * “We  cannot  count  on  more  than  three  years  in 

this  field  of  every  four  of  the  white  missionary’s  term  of  service,  and 
of  these  three  years  there  are  large  deductions  to  be  made  of  the  time 
one  is  sick  here.” 

Those  acquainted  with  the  facts  know  that  if  the  visible  results 
of  missionary  effort  appear  insufficient,  such  insufficiency  is  only 
apparent.  The  wonder  should  not  be  that  missionary  success  in  Af- 
rica has  been  so  limited,  but  that,  under  the  circumstances,  so  much 
has  been  accomplished,  not  only  directly  upon  missionary  proteges 
but  indirectly  upon  African  communities  ; that  the  indirect  and  un- 
conscious influence  of  missionary  endeavor  has  been  so  great ; that 
its  gains  for  Christianity  have  been  so  many,  so  real  and  so  widely 
spread  in  various  portions  of  that  continent. 

Colonization.  The  Republic  of  Liberia,  which  occupies  one  of 
the  finest  regions  in  Western  Africa,  was  founded  by  Negroes  from 
the  United  States.  The  first  colonists,  consisting  of  eighty-eight  per- 
sons, sailed  from  New  York  in  February,  1820,  and  landed,  after  a 
voyage  of  five  weeks,  at  the  British  Colony  of  Sierra  Leone.  Not 
satisfied  with  the  openings  there,  they  sailed  for  Sherbro,  about  one 
hundre  i miles  further  south,  where  they  encountered  fresh  difficul- 
ties. At  length,  after  various  trials  and  losses,  they  succeeded  in  get- 
ting a foothold  on  Cape  Mesurado,  260  miles  southeast  of  Sierra  Le- 
one, in  latitude  7 19  N.  By  gradual  acquisitions  of  territory  from  the 


TO 


Liberia. 


native  chiefs,  made  by  treaty  or  purchase,  they  have  extended  from 
Cape  Mesurado  to  the  Sherbro  river  on  the  northwest,  about  ninety 
miles,  and  to  the  river  San  Pedro  on  the  southeast,  over  four  hun- 
dred miles. 

Up  to  1847  they  were  festered  by  the  American  Colonization 
Society,  which  appointed  their  governors,  in  that  year,  feeling 
themselves  strong  enough  to  take  charge  of  their  own  affairs,  they 
declared  themselves  a free,  sovereign  and  independent  State,  and 
made  a solemn  appeal  to  the  world  for  recognition.  Great  Britain 
was  the  first  to  acknowledge  the  infant  Republic,  and  was  soon  follow- 
ed by  the  other  Powers  of  Europe,  with  whom  the  new  State  entered 
into  treaty  relations.  Our  government  formally  recognized  the  inde- 
pendence of  Liberia  in  1862,  though  for  many  years  previously  a Uni- 
ted States  Commercial  Agency  had  been  established  there. 

The  Republic  is  divided  into  four  counties,  instead  of  States, 
named  Mesurado,  Bassa,  Sinou  and  Maryland.  The  law-making  body, 
called  a Legislature  instead  of  Congress,  is  composed  of  two  Houses, 
a Senate  and  House  of  Representatives.  There  are  two  Senators 
from  each  county.  The  members  of  the  House  are  elected  on  the 
population  basis.  At  present,  Mesurado  county  has  four  Repre- 
sentatives, and  each  of  the  other  counties  three.  The  Presidential 
term  of  office  is  two  years,  but  there  is  a movement  to  amend 
the  constitution  so  as  to  lengthen  the  term. 

The  chief  article  of  export  is  coffee,  which  is  considered  the  best 
in  the  world.  Ceylon  and  Brazil  are  now  cultivating  Liberia  coffee, 
and  thousands  of  plants  have  been  introduced  into  those  countries  from 
Liberia.  The  other  articles  are  sugar,  cocoa,  ginger,  arrowroot,  palm- 
oil,  camwood  and  ivory. 

There  is  a gradual  increase  of  the  population  from  this  country, 
chiefly  from  the  southern  States,  assisted  by  the  American  Coloniza- 
tion Society.  These  men  being  chiefly  farmers  and  mechanics,  are 
founding  settlements  in  the  interior,  pushing  inward  from  the 
coast  to  the  healthy  highlands.  Ten  thousand  such  persons  from 
this  land,  to  continue  that  line  of  progress,  would  make  an  im- 
pression upon  the  continent  that  would  be  felt  in  the  commercial 
world  without,  but  far  more  upon  the  industrial  world  within.  The  few 
who  are  already  there,  with  their  improved  methods  of  farming, 
house-build  ing,  road,  and  fence  and  bridge-making,  are  revolutionizing 
the  ideas  of  the  Aborigines,  who  are  successfully  imitating  the  better 
ways  of  their  returned  brethren.  The  Republic  at  present  needs  a 
gradual  accession  of  such  men,  carrying  into  the  country  strong  arms 
and  progressive  ideas,  to  awaken  by  direct  influence  and  example  the 


II 


A merica  s Opportunity. 

stagnant  barbarism  of  generations,  and  to  bring  into  the  productive 
activities  of  the  times  the  millions  who  at  present  contribute  hardly 
anything  to  the  world’s  well-being. 

America’s  opportunity.  Africa  measures  from  north  to  south, 
4,985  miles,  while  at  the  widest  point  it  is  4,615  miles  from  east  to 
west.  It  embraces  an  area  three  times  as  great  as  all  Europe,  and 
nearly  four  times  that  of  the  United  States — without  Alaska.  There 
is  every  variety  in  the  surface  and  in  the  characteristic  features  of 
the  country.  People  think  only  of  the  black  race  which  they  have 
seen,  and  that  degraded  by  slavery,  whereas  the  name  "African” 
comprises  scores  of  races  and  type  of  men,  some  of  which  are  among 
the  noblest.  Dr.  Raleigh,  at  a recent  meeting  in  London,  said  : “There 
is  in  these  people  a hitherto  undiscovered  mine  of  love,  the  develop- 
ment of  which  will  be  for  the  amazing  wealth  of  the  world  * * * 

Greece  gave  us  beauty,  Rome  gave  us  power  ; the  Anglo-Saxon  race 
unites  and  mingles  these  ; but  in  the  African  people  there  is  the  great 
gushing  wealth  of  love  which  will  develop  wonders  for  the  world . ” 
The  claims  of  long  neglected  Africa  will  be  fully  appreciated  only 
when  a broader  knowledge  shall  have  been  attained.  Her  descendants 
have  been  our  “hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water”  for  two  cen- 
turies, and  yet  not  more  than  one-tenth  of  all  America’s  missiona- 
ry and  philanthropic  benevolence  goes  to  the  “dark  continent”  and 
its  two  hundred  millions  of  inhabitants  ! 

Direct,  stated  and  rapid  communication  between  the  United  States 
and  West  Africa  is  necessary'  to  successful,  advantageous  intercourse 
both  as  to  commerce  and  emigration.  The  attitude  of  a nation  of 
fifty  millions  of  people  needing  the  growing  trade  of  tropical  empire, 
and  with  thousands  of  colored  men  waiting  to  emigrate  there  so  soon 
as  steam  communication  can  be  depended  on,  but  now  at  the  mercy  of 
irregular  and  inadequate  sailing-vessel  accommodations,  is  an  anomoly 
too  extreme  to  be  of  much  longer  continuance,  especially  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  twenty-eight  steamers  from  Liverpool  alone  fur- 
nish it  so  abundantly.  A foreign  market  is  to  day  the  most  important 
need  of  American  industries.  Ought  not  the  national  government  to 
assist  in  the  establishment  of  a line  of  steamships  to  Liberia  and 
aid  worthy  people  of  color  to  homes  in  that  Republic  ? The  4,000  Eng- 
lish emigrants  sent  to  South  Africa  with  ,£50,000  voted  for  the  pur- 
pose by  Parliament,  and  the  liberal  payments  to  steamship  compa- 
nies for  carrying  the  mails  along  the  African  coasts,  have  powerfully 
strengthened  British  interests  in  the  great  commercial  emporium  of 
the  world  in  the  near  future. 

Is  it  not  time  that  Arctic  immolations  cease  ? The  return  of 


12  Third  Annual  Paper  on  Africa. 

these  voyagers  is  as  barren  as  the  land  they  seek.  The  fearful  price 
of  the  Jeannette  expedition  has  been  paid  in  order  to  dot  the  map 
with  two  or  three  pin-head  islands,  sheathed  in  ice.  Let  men  of 
means  arise,  plenty  of  Henry  Grinnells  and  James  Gordon  Bennetts, 
who  shall  equip  exploring  parties  to  western  interior  Africa,  where, 
if  they  lay  down  their  lives,  it  will  be  acknowledged  that  the  sacrifice 
is  worth  the  cost.  Let  America  teach  the  world  that 
“ Manki  id  are  one  in  spirit,  and  one  instinct  bears  along, 

Round  the  earth's  electric  circle,  the  swift  flash  of  right  and  wrong, 

Whether  conscious  or  unconscious,  yet  humanity’s  vast  frame, 

Through  its  ocean-sundered  fibres,  feels  the  gush  of  joy  or  shame  ; 

In  the  gain  or  loss  of  one  race,  all  the  rest  have  equal  claim.” 


[ Editorial  from  The  Sun,  of  Baltimore,  Xovember  //,  1882.  ] 


Third  Annual  Paper  on  Africa. — We  print  elsewhere  an  in- 
teresting article  by  Mr.  William  Coppinger,  Secretary  of  the  Ameri- 
can Colonization  Society,  in  which  he  gathers  up  and  passes  under 
review  the  efforts  now  making  by  parties  representing  the  principal 
countries  of  Europe  to  open  up  all  parts  of  Africa  to  commerce  and 
civilization.  Africa,  except  in  the  sense  of  race,  is  no  longer  “ the 
Dark  Continent”  it  was  a quarter  of  a century  ago.  Repeated  explora- 
tions undertaken  and  carried  through  by  resolute  men  amid  great 
hardships,  and  not  unfrequently  with  the  loss  of  valuable  lives,  have 
filled  a goodly  proportion  of  those  vacant  spaces  which  disfigured  the 
older  maps  of  that  Continent.  On  the  suject  of  later  explorations,  the 
work  accomplished,  and  the  efforts  made  by  commercial  companies 
and  by  agents  acting  under  the  auspices  of  their  respective  govern- 
ments to  establish  relations  with  the  vast  populations  of  that  region, 
Mr.  Coppinger’s  paper  is  a valuable  compilation  of  scattered  facts.  Tn 
respect  to  the  missions  established  in  various  parts  of  Africa  and  their 
gradual  extension  into  new  districts,  his  information  appears  to  be 
full.  Of  Liberia,  in  whose  prosperity  he  has  a special  interest,  he 
speaks  with  that  hopefulness  which  is  born  of  enthusiasm  for  the 
Colonization  cause. 


